The invention relates to a holder for a roll of unwindable material, in particular a holder for paper rolls, preferably for standing a paper roll vertically on a horizontal surface, with a cylindrical holding rod, a foot, and a pivotal retaining arrangement for the free end of the paper roll.
Such a holder is known for example from Swedish patent application no. 450083, where a shaft mounted upright on a base plate and a tear-off part starting from the periphery of the base plate are together able to retain the loose end of a paper roll, and where the tear-off part also serves for tear-off of paper from the roll. A drawback of this known holder is that it cannot be used for random-width paper rolls which are wider than the most very common types.
WO patent publication no. 97/28729 specifies a similar movable paper-roll holder where a tightener prevents unintended unwinding of paper. The tightener is acted upon by a force at right angles to the vertical holder shaft so that the tightener exerts a pressure against the paper roll. This force is engendered by a cord pull, a pulley and a counterweight. The drawback of this construction is that it is elaborate and therefore costly. Furthermore, the roll holder can only function when placed on a horizontal surface, so that the counterweight can move axially under the influence of gravitational acceleration and thereby exert a pull on the cord.
U.S. Pat. No. 4.792,102 specifies a similar paper-roll holder, comprising however both an upright shaft for the roll and a guiding means for the brake cover, which by virtue of suitable drilled holes is able to slide on the shaft and the guiding means. This embodiment is elaborate and costly to manufacture, as it employs both machined components and components with drilled holes of varying diameters. Also for this roll holder, application is limited to holders standing on a horizontal surface, as the gravitational acceleration must in this case too act upon the brake cover in an axial direction.
In addition, German patent publication no. 36 13 988 specifies guidance of the cover with a cylindrical cover holder which can be moved axially within a shaft formed as a hollow cylinder, the hollow shaft containing locking means for retaining the cover holder in different axial positions. This roll holder is admittedly suited to being lifted from a worktop by only one hand during usage, but it is not provided with means for braking the rotation of the paper roll, and also for this roll holder application is limited to holders standing on a horizontal surface, as the gravitational acceleration must in this case too act upon the cover and the cover holder in an axial direction.
The object of the invention is to provide a holder for a roll of unwindable material, in particular a holder for paper rolls, where the roll is retained on the holder in a stable manner also when different widths of paper are used, and where the cost of manufacture can be reduced through a simple embodiment and few components.
The object is realised according to the present invention by the retaining arrangement being pivotally attached to a detachable cover that moves along the axis of the holding rod, and which is equipped with a cylindrical skirt that likewise moves axially along the holding rod, where the holding rod and the skirt have interrelating locking means, and where the diametrical dimensions of the cover are such that during application the cover is in contact with the end surface of the paper roll currently in use, and covers it at least partially. With such an embodiment a roll holder is provided which, with the retaining arrangement, becomes applicable for all common widths of kitchen roll. Furthermore, the application is not limited to horizontal worktops, but extends for example to use at sea aboard a sailing vessel.
In an advantageous embodiment the interrelating locking means of the holding rod and skirt may are releasable when the paper roll is changed. In this way, possibility is provided for lifting of the roll holder with only one hand, thus making it easy to use.
For application of the roll holder on non-horizontal surfaces it is advantageous for the pivot movement of the retaining arrangement to take place against the action of a spring. In this way, reliable and continuous retention is achieved of the loose end of the web, regardless of the orientation of the holder.
It is advantageous for the holding rod to have a cross-section bounded by a circular envelope, as the locking of the cover by the skirt can be accomplished by turning both in relation to each other, as with a bayonet socket.
With a view to producing a locking between holding rod and cover skirt it may be advantageous for the rod or parts thereof to have a cross-section bounded by an elliptical envelope.
Further embodiments are stated in the dependent claims.